8/15/2017 11:07 AM PDT

The son of legendary singer Natalie Cole was found dead Monday night, and he was only 39 ... TMZ has learned.

Robert Yancy's body was found in his San Fernando Valley apartment when a friend who hadn't heard from him in a few days checked up on him.

Family members tell us ... authorities contacted them at 2:30 AM Tuesday and said Robert died of a heart attack. Law enforcement tells us, pending an autopsy, they have listed it as death from natural causes, but that can change once the autopsy and toxicology tests are completed.

The family tells us authorities were clear to them, drugs were not involved. As you know, Natalie famously fought drug addiction throughout her adult life until her 2015 death. Her cause of death was congestive heart failure.

Family members say Robert -- the grandson of Nat King Cole -- had never abused drugs and was "turning his life around." He worked in the music industry.

Robert's dad died of a heart attack at age 34, so it could be heart disease runs in the family.

8/15/2017 9:49 AM PDT

EXCLUSIVE

Jesse Williams' wife says he is a reckless parent who has fits of rage and worries he exposes their kids to a "revolving door" of women ... this according to new, explosive divorce docs.

Aryn Drake-Lee has unloaded on the "Grey's Anatomy" star, demanding sole custody for a variety of reasons. She says the children are being emotionally compromised because Jesse has exposed them to at least one intimate partner and possibly more. She wants the judge to order him to keep girlfriends away from the kids until he dates them for 6 months.

Aryn goes on, claiming Jesse has a violent temper and cites a road rage incident last month with his next-door neighbor. She says after an argument the neighbor flipped off Jesse, and he then "aggressively pursued him in his car" with their 2 kids inside. She says Jesse threatened to kill him.

She's also pissed off that Jesse posts pics of their kids on social media and says he's doing it as a "buffer for the negative talk about him in the media."

8/15/2017 9:29 AM PDT

Exclusive Details

Ezekiel Elliott's accuser told police the NFL running back got extremely violent with her on multiple occasions -- including one instance where he "lost control" and busted the side of her jaw -- but Zeke says she's straight-up lying and he can prove it.

The woman lays it out during a recorded 2016 interview with police in the wake of her domestic violence accusations against the football star.

At the beginning of the interview, the woman is asked if there is a history of abuse or violence -- to which she responds:

"He has lost control and yanked me into the wall, busted the side of my jaw ... my face is swollen and a little bit bruised. And then I did have thumbprint marks on my hand."

The accuser doesn't specify the exact dates of the alleged abuse -- but she notes that she had filed a previous police report against Zeke over an incident in February 2016.

During the 20 minute interview, the accuser, Tiffany Thompson, also gets into detail about the July 16, 2016 incident.

Thompson says Elliott got violent with her when she asked why other women were blowing up his phone early in the morning.

She claims Zeke cussed her out, dragged her out of bed and choked her.

Thompson also claims Zeke clenched his fist to hit her in the face -- but stopped himself when she began to cry. She claims Elliott apologized.

We reached out to Elliott's camp and a rep told us, "All we can say at this time is that Mr. Elliott’s appeal of the NFL’s decision will not only completely refute these false allegations but also shed light on the accuser’s lack of credibility and true motives so much that it will place the NFL's entire findings into question and jeopardize the integrity of the decision."

The reps noted the interview is over a year old and was taken by the Columbus Prosecutor’s office which ultimately did not charge Elliott with a crime.

8/15/2017 10:46 AM PDT

Breaking News

The "We Love Manchester Emergency Fund" will distribute $324k to each of the families of the 22 people killed in a terrorist attack at Ariana Grande's concert.

Approximately $24.5 million was raised following the horrific attack on May 22 at the Manchester Arena ... where Ariana had just finished her concert seconds before a nail bomb exploded in the rotunda. The victims were as young as 8 and at least 59 people were injured.

Sue Murphy, the chair of the trustees of the fund, said "the payments will ensure the families benefit from the phenomenal outpouring of public support following the attack."

Part of the funds -- some of which came from Ariana's One Love benefit concert -- went to those who were hospitalized as a result of the attack.

8/15/2017 8:11 AM PDT

EXCLUSIVE

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are deep in divorce talks, and there is NO talk of reconciliation, contrary to some media reports.

Several stories have surfaced recently suggesting the divorce is on hold and they are thinking of rebooting the relationship. Sources connected to the couple say nothing could be further from the truth.

We're told both sides are hashing out both child custody and property settlements, and the divorce is full steam ahead.

One reason they will never get back together ... Angelina made extremely damaging allegations against Brad, claiming he was abusive to their kids. The investigations triggered by the allegations ultimately exonerated Pitt.

Brad hasn't hidden his feeling about the children -- they're at the top of his priority list, so it seems they're at the point of no return in terms of reconciling.

8/15/2017 8:00 AM PDT

Usher will not settle with the people suing him for allegedly exposing them to the herpes virus ... sources close to the singer tell TMZ.

The sources say there have been no settlement talks -- none -- and we're told Usher has no interest in making the claims go away in return for money.

As we reported, 4 people -- 3 women and a man -- are suing Usher, claiming they had sexual contact and he didn't inform them he allegedly had genital herpes. Usher hasn't addressed the herpes allegations.

There's one caution ... as one source put it, although settlement isn't on the table, as lawsuits progress there's always a cost/benefit analysis based on money -- how much it costs to defend yourself against a lawsuit vs. how much it costs to end it.

8/15/2017 7:09 AM PDT

Jesse Williams slammed people for claiming he nonchalantly ended his 13-year relationship just for a "cute girl" with whom he was working ... well that may not be why his marriage ended, but it seems he's with that cute girl.

The girl in question is Minka Kelly and it appears the pair enjoyed another date night ... this time at Largo at the Coronet in L.A. We saw them together last month all incognito at the movies.

Jesse made a cameo on Jay-Z's "Footnotes from 4:44" where he blasted those for suggesting he left his wife for Minka's hot bod.

Reading between the lines, it seems like what he's saying is that he and his wife called it quits before Minka entered the pic.

8/15/2017 7:03 AM PDT

EXCLUSIVE

Aaron Carter's life is spiraling out of control, and he's spreading lies about his former publicist to cover it up ... according to a threatening legal letter obtained by TMZ.

Jon Lewandowski's lawyers fired off the ultimatum to Carter Monday, threatening to sue if he doesn't stop making "false, fabricated and defamatory statements." According to the letter ... Aaron's made claims that Lewandowski stole money from him and damaged his career.

Lewandowski's lawyers claim the opposite is true -- that Carter actually owes him money for repping him as his publicist and manager. According to the letter, he had to sever ties with the singer due to his "increasingly alarming and reckless behavior," and because he made threats of violence.

8/15/2017 7:10 AM PDT

The two got in some vintage shopping at the open air Melrose Trading Post in L.A. Gotta give Gregg a pat on the back ... they say one man's junk is another man's treasure ... and Lexy's gotta whole lot.

8/15/2017 6:52 AM PDT

Anthony Scaramucci thinks there's no place in our society for neo-Nazi's and white supremacists, but he doesn't take that extra step and urge Trump to cut them from his base.

We got The Mooch Monday in NYC at the Hunt & Fish Club, which he partly owns ... and he joined the chorus, agreeing Trump should have come out earlier and condemned the hate groups in Charlottesville.

Scaramucci also confirmed our earlier story ... that he's working with a Hollywood producer on a sitcom idea, with the working title "Attack of the Swamp Monsters" ... a story about a guy from Wall Street who comes to D.C. and gets attacked by political hacks who want him gone ... hmmmm, sounds familiar.

In other news...

8/15/2017 6:29 AM PDT

If Khloe Kardashian and Blac Chyna are in the same strip club at the same time, but nobody sees them together on the inside ... is it still awkward?

We got Khloe and her man, Tristan Thompson, entering Ace of Diamonds in WeHo Monday night ... and her brother's ex/baby mama, Blac Chyna, wasn't far behind. It seems everyone was just there for a good time too -- Chyna wasn't working.